Masa Harina (very finely milled corn meal, do not try to use the usual meal in the store, go to a latino market and tell them what you are making), salt, agua de panela (colombian brown sugar chunks – shown in the bottom middle – is dissolved in water), and some of the well degreased stock from the earlier stock pot are combined while the stock is very hot (just cool enough to handle – that would depend on how tough your hands are).

Empanada Step 14 – Masa Harina: Step 2

The dough comes together in a tidy ball, not too sticky and not too dry.

Empanada Step 15 – Formation overview

A quick overview of the size and shape of the wrapping of the filling.

Empanada Step 16 – Formation: Step 1: Wrap process

Using some plastic wrap (or slightly wet hands for the expert), begin to gently bring the masa over the filling.

Empanada Step 17 – Formation: Step 2: Wrap process

Continuing with the plastic wrap, bring edges towards each other. Do not do this in such a way that the masa is made thinner or has holes. You want the masa to be the same thickness all over.

Empanada Step 18 – Formation: Step 3: Wrap process

Very gently pinch the edges together, without thinning the edges much.

Empanada Step 19 – Formation: Step 4: Wrap process

Continuing with a gentle hand, gently seal the edges so that there are no openings or creases. If this is not done well, the filling will come out and a bad empanada results.These are ready to be deep fried in medium high heat. Fry until golden brown. See picture at end of this post. The following are directions to make the “salsa” that we Colombians put on/in our empanadas.

Incredible! Great step-by-step instructions and the beautiful photos help eliminate guess-work. My husband is Colombian so I’ve dabbled in cooking native dishes for him. Thank you so much. It’s apparent all the hard work that went into this.

Thanks so much for your kind words.. let me know how it all turns out for you! I will be publishing this in a booklet form I hope soon and will also be doing booklets of some other foods. I think it is helpful to see someone do it and I am glad that this is helpful for you too!.

I finally got around to making these and I wanted to tell you that your recipe is perfect and very very very delicious. Your pictures are so helpful in aiding you through the process. I have searched everywhere for this recipe and believe me, after trying dozens of recipes, yours just nails it! My husband is Colombian and he absolutely loved it! Just like the ones you buy in the restaurants. Great job and Thank You. If you have any other colombian recipes like sancocho etc, please pass it on. Thanks!!!!!

Any ideas on how to make these the day before you need them? One time I made them and put them in the refrigerator with a damp paper towel on top covered with foil. The next day, when I fried them, they all fell apart. Any ideas on how to avoid this?

Unfortunately for people who like to prep ahead of time (who doesn’t!) empanadas should be fried right away! But you can store them in the fridge for little awhile before frying; just cover them with saran wrap. (Do not use a moist cloth)

About the dough…it’s absolutely critical that the water you mix with the areparina is boiling! This way, it sort of cooks the ‘harina’ and makes it stick together. Also, there can not be any little openings in the formed empanadas because the oil will get inside and make them fall apart.

Moisture collected on the empanadas can be a problem, so make sure they are dry before frying.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to help others understand how to do this. You are an angel!
I was given the great pleasure , thanks to a friend in the same building, of trying these. His mother made them and he offered me one to try. WOW and WOW..I am waiting for the weather to cool down just a little and then I get into the kitchen and give it a go.
Thank you so very much for going to all the trouble you did to show us how to make them.

Oh My God! Thanks for being faithful to the Colombian tradition and for explaining it in such a way. I have just moved from the NYC area where empanadas are abundant and sell for $1 a pop to Geneva where they cost U$5 and they are small and not always fresh. So I decided I had to try my hand at making some and inspired on your recipe I will. Que rico!!

Instructions and photos are very helpful. I made these empanadas for lunch today, and they were great! Instead of making a circular dough, I made 2 half circles and placed the filling between the half circles and pinched the sides to seal. I’ve been dying for these Colombian empanadas and really appreciate your authentic recipe. It took some time to make, but it was well worth it. Thanks!

Wow! I have never made empanadas. But I moved to Japan a year ago and craving them sooooo bad!(of course I can’t get them here anywhere!!) I will try making them and hopefully they come out as good as my mom’s!!
Thanks for the great detail!!!

ok so honestly my mother is FULLY FULLY colombian but doesnt know how to make these so thanks for giving me this recipe so i can show her up one but is the pique a hot sauce cause im trying to find this green hot sauce with cilantro but im not sure wut its called it nice and spicy though do u think u know wut im talking about

Wow, these instructions were so clear. My wife is from Medellin and she has a large group of Colombian friends in our area. They had a party this past saturday. I have made empanada’s before but they were not even close to following your recipe. I made over 100 empanadas, they were eaten as fast as I could take them out of the oil.

I did use a tortilla press (about $7 at a local mercada) to press out the masa. It worked great.

My family makes these during special occasions with my mom as the lead chef and the rest of us as helpers. —empanada fillers, closers and fryers— yes, a team effort make it helpful, fun…and it means that more empanadas get doled out in equal shares as they are devoured right out of the pan.They are sooooo delicious, but since they need to be made and eaten right away, it does not happen often. The beauty of the masa is in how light it is and how wonderful it fries….but that is also it’s downfall. Ahhh the sadness of the burst empanada in the hot oil. Thanks for posting this. Not only very well-done in an aesthetic sense, but also very helpful. Not to mention nostalgic. I feel a Christmas eve empanada fest coming on!

I’d like to make one quick suggestion about forming the empanadas. You are so right that they need to be closed properly. After many a sad empanada demise, my dad suggested that we use a coffee cup…a big round one to press the seam on the outer edge of the empanada—do it through the clear wrap and mash the excess dough back into the main dough ball. This produces a well-sealed and even edge that cooks evenly, is relatively thin and hardly ever splits.

Sorry for the long post, but you have done such a wonderful thing, I just had to let you know. As a previous poster said…you made my day.

Nika,
Thank you so, so , so much for this recipe! I grew up in Colombia and always remembered our housekeeper’s empanadas. I tried and tried over the years to duplicate them; the guizo always came out fine but the dough, not at all. When I saw your recipe I went to a tienda here in Escondido and asked what kind of masa harina to use and they pointed me to Le Venezolana. It was exactly what was missing. I have made them several times now and my sister’s and mother are thrilled. They have made childhood memories come flooding back.
Again, thank you so much for this. My Colombian food file is now complete…this was the last thing I didn’t know how to make.
Julie

Jackie: I will see if I can dig it up tomorrow (or if my mom has a good one). Its really easy to buy the mix here but it should not be too hard to help you with ingredients there. Do you know if you can get corn starch? I know that the Japanese use kudzu and potato starch but I am not so sure those will translate well.

Is there a process to make these ahead of time. Can I assemble them a day ahead of time then fry them before serving or assemble and fry a day ahead and reheat in the oven before serving? Any ideas are appreciated! Thanks!

Nadia: My mom has made them, put them on a cookie sheet so they are not touching, covered very closely with plastic wrap (do not want them to dry out) and put them in the fridge overnight but no longer than that.

You could freeze them like that (not touching) and then put into a freezer bag. You will want them to come to room temp completely before frying. You also want them to not be moist from thawing because that will splatter when it hits the oil.

Its always better to fry them immediately! Its not easy, especially by yourself.

hiii nika i am very impressed with your culinary creative ways. i am dominican married to a colombian so you see why, i am currently researching this recipe. i see how you did it step by step which is great visual, but i was wondering if you have the actual recipe with the exact quantaties needed of each ingridient for more accuratecy of the exquisit taste? my husband is natural food critic lol please help me with this. thank you very much

my wife is from bogota. we live in texas and there is a very good colombian restraunt named casa vieja that makes excellent empanadas and other colombian dishes as well. but until discovering your recipe it was unknown how to create them. thanks for the tasty recipe. we are very appreciative.

Nika, the address to Casa Vieja is 1927 E Beltline Road, Suite 152 Carrollton, TX 75006. It’s family owned and the food is terrific. My boyfriend’s family is from Tunja and I was introduced to Colombian food through them. Casa Vieja is the only place that I know of in the DFW area that has good Colombian food.

This recipe is great, by the way. My boyfriend and his friends love it when I make them empanadas.

hey im colombian and thanks to ur step by step instructions i actually have been maken my traditional dishes i thought i could never make since all i know are the puerta rican dishes and to answer the question about substituting pork yes beef , chicken that’s how they make it in medellin , and the pique if u wanted to u also can add tamatoes , onions , cilantro , minced garlic, the green chive onions , cumino, salt,and the viniger and it comes out even better thats what my father told me i tried it and it came out delisioso,

omg, i tried your recipe this weekend and it was a huge hit with my family! (o^ u ^o) it was hard in the beginning because i wanted to maximize the filling, but it wouldn’t close when i put too much. but after about making ten of them, i finally got the hang of it. your visual guide really helped and i was even impressed how well my family took to them (usually i can’t get them to eat anything that’s not been americanized, lol.) but they thoroughly enjoyed your recipe for colombian empanadas. TWO THUMBS WAYYYY UP d(^___^)b i’ve even made some extra and stuck them in my freezer for the next time i’m in the mood for a quick snack! you’re the best!!!! (^0^)//~~~~

Ali: Thanks so much for writing and letting me know about your success! They sure can be hard to do right at first but, like you say, you do get the hang of it. I am so glad that your family loved them. I have never met anyone, Colombian or newcomer, who didnt LOVE empanadas.

Hi!! This Christmas instead of the regular turkey and/or ham, I’m making traditional Puerto Rican & Colombian food. Obviously you ca tell I’m a lil of both. The problem is this…my Colombian grandmother does not eat pork. Can I make the empanadas with a beef(not ground) filling? If so what kind? Thanks!

I’m a Colombian that lives in North Nevada & can not locate the correct masa someone once told me that Albers cornmeal can work but I haven’t got a cool how to use it as a replacement. We get more mexican style flours on the west & the are no markets that sell for arepas or empanadas the right style, any suggestions?

I am going to make some pork ones for those of us that eat pork. for my grama i’d like to make some of unground meat. could i use a boneless beef chuck roast and let it cook down til it falls apart? if i don’t have a food processor what can i use instead? don’t laugh, but would a blender work?

Thank you for this post. My boyfriend is Colombian and his mother has been making the BEST empanadas for years! I’ve been trying to master them for him but can’t get the dough rite. The inside of the dough is still a little undercooked. Any helpful hints? I use a deep fryer and set the temp to 400. Should I lower it to 350?
Thanks for you post!

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Nika, I live in the UK England and its exremelly dificult to find the right cornflour for the empanadas, do you have any advice on where and how to buy and also if its cheap to get imported in bulk from colombia?
Im planning on using Masa Harina is that the right one and are there any other types that i can use?

[…] my next masa adventure, I’m going to make some empanadas with a masa dough. The dough in this Columbian fried empanada recipe calls for masa, salt, brown sugar, and meat stock, while this baked empanada recipe uses a […]

I am so excited to have found this recipe. I live in Tampa and there is an amazing columbian restaurant (Antojos de Mi Tierra
) and their empanadas were amazing. So I am going to try these this weekend. Question-how much meat do you use? Was that like a pound of pork?

My husband is Puerto Rican and loves all South American/Island food so I always try to cook these little treasures for him and I hope this succeeds.

Today was the first time to eat empanadas colombians, In a restaurant in chicago.
They were so good I ran home to find a recipe to learn how to make them. I am mexican
raised puerto rican and married to a cuban man for 22 years. I’m a very good cook. I cook everything. My family never knows what country their going to eat that day. But they enjoy
it all. Thank you for this step by step recipe I made it now and it is wow wow WOW.
Tomorrow all of our children will be here which are five and their spouses and 14 grandchilren, They are in for a great surprise. I have to wake-up early to have done for them
thank you thank you thank you

My girls and I are making empanadas today – at long last!!! Is there a spot on your blog where you give us a little more instruction. Your pictures are wonderful, but we are not sure how much the pork butt should weigh or how long to cook it.

Nika, I am a Colombian by birth but raised in the States and then living now for 15 years in the Middle East! I have mastered my husbands cuisine (Indian) but not my much missed Colombian. I am so happy that I have found you and your site and look forward to looking into it more. I have been dying for Empanadas and my two kids are willing to help with all the work but the flour or masa is a huge issue for me. I can not find this special harina and want to know what you recommend? I am almost at the point of using the local samosa frozen dough!! I read you are writing up SANCOCHO!! OMG I gotta find that!! Thank you and besos! Alia

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[…] Every couple of months she treats the department to some delicious, savory, light and golden Columbian empanadas (btw that blog is awesome) with some crazy yummilicious salsa. Salsa in spanish simply means […]